If reports Wednesday are to be believed , one of the tech industry 's biggest deals in recent history was hammered out almost exclusively by two 20-somethings over the course of what amounts to a long weekend .

On April 8 , Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg let the company 's board of directors know he was about to spend $ 1 billion on hot photo start-up Instagram -- just hours before the deal was done , according to the Wall Street Journal .

The deal was nailed down , unnamed sources told the Journal , in only three days . Meetings between Zuckerberg , 27 , and Instagram head Kevin Systrom , 28 , that took place at Zuckerberg 's multi-million-dollar Palo Alto , California , home .

It 's a move that shows Zuckerberg displaying the hacker spirit that helped him launch a social-media juggernaut in his college dorm room . And that 's a spirit that does n't always jibe with the image of CEO of a corporation expected to be valued at up to $ 100 billion when it makes its first public stock offering in the next few weeks .

`` On balance , I 'm not sure it 's the best way to do business , '' said Ali Velshi , CNN 's chief business correspondent . `` But Mark Zuckerberg has defied all rules . ''

The moxie suggested in the report comes at an interesting time for Facebook and Zuckerberg , who also reportedly whittled down Systrom 's initial asking price of $ 2 billion .

On the brink of offering up Facebook , with its hundreds of millions of users , to stockholders , even Zuckerberg 's controlling interest in the company -LRB- a 57 % share of voting rights , according to reports -RRB- could soon need to be checked by the types of lawyers , bean-counters and other business types whose jobs involve looking out for a company 's bottom line .

`` This paints a complex picture of its CEO as at once confident and bold , and also nervous and panicky -- details that will be scrutinized come Facebook 's imminent IPO , '' Kit Eaton wrote on Fast Company 's website .

Velshi , who over the course of his career covered the `` tech bubble '' of the late 1990s , said the whirlwind purchase may , in fact , be a last hurrah of sorts for Zuckerberg .

`` It actually happens more than we think . And it 's not a bad thing , particularly in non-public companies , Velshi said . `` But , in public companies , boards are important -- they are supposed to protect shareholder interests , and they are supposed to bring perspective and experience that a kid CEO may not have . ''

The Facebook board did vote to approve the deal , according to the Journal . But at that point , it was largely an endorsement more than a decision . The board , one source said , `` was told , not consulted . ''

In the fast-moving world of Web tech , being nimble is almost a prerequisite for survival . Fail to adapt and someone else will pass you by .

Instagram , a mobile app which lets users enhance their photos with a raft of pre-created filters , was reportedly on the verge of nailing down a new round of private investments worth $ 50 million . Could that have made Zuckerberg overpay for a company with 13 employees and no revenue to date ?

Maybe , says Velshi .

`` Creativity , innovation and deal-making are different strengths ; rarely does one person possess all of them , '' he said . `` That Zuckerberg felt strongly that he wanted Instragram may not have made him the best person to do the deal -- that 's why we have real estate agents , or talent agents . ''

For what it 's worth , Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg was aware of the negotiations all along , although she did n't personally take part . And , for Facebook , making a profit directly from Instagram may have been less important than locking up its user data and taking a rapidly growing competitor , now with more than 40 million users , off of the playing field .

Regardless of where the future takes Facebook -- whether life as a publicly traded commodity is more about stuffy board meetings than spur-of-the moment handshake deals -- Wednesday 's report provided at least one more glimpse at the hoodie-wearing , authority-flouting CEO whose origin story has literally become the stuff of Hollywood storytelling .

`` What 's cooler than a billion dollars ? '' Matthew Braga of Ars Technica wrote , invoking the oft-paraphrased line from Facebook biopic `` The Social Network . ''

`` A billion dollars without board approval . ''

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Facebook-Instagram deal provides a glimpse of Zuckerberg 's hacker spirit

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The billion-dollar deal was negotiated almost exclusively by Zuckerberg , WSJ says

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CEO-only negoitations are n't unheard of , but have risks , CNN 's Ali Velshi says

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Once Facebook goes public , such deals may become a thing of the past